Chapter 32
"Hey, Baek Eun...seong."
His gaze was hazy, yet somehow felt dangerously off. I stole a cautious glance before carefully calling Baek Eun-seong's name. It was truly embarrassing to admit, but I felt like a mouse standing before a lion. One wrong move, even a finger, and I felt like I'd be devoured whole.
While I was busy darting my eyes around, Baek Eun-seong slowly leaned his body toward me.
"Baek Eun-seong?"
Ignoring my call, Baek Eun-seong tried to press his body against mine. I couldn't tell if he was conscious or not, but it seemed like an instinctive act, knowing I could suppress the curse.
Curled up as tightly as I could, I bit my lip and carefully raised my free hand—the one he hadn't grabbed—and placed it over his chest where his heart was. To prevent Baek Eun-seong from snatching my mana in massive chunks like before, I carefully pressed down the curse, as if plucking ice cubes one by one from an ice tray. After a moment, Baek Eun-seong muttered something incomprehensible.
From what I could tell, it roughly sounded like he wanted more…. Absolutely not. If I did that, my mana would deplete first and I might go on a rampage.
Holding down the whining Baek Eun-seong, I gradually shared my mana, and whether he came to his senses or not, his light brown crown of hair suddenly jerked up.
"Are you back to your senses? I almost died struggling because of you, so I'm taking two materials, mmph!"
Before I could even think that the angle of Baek Eun-seong charging at me was strange, my fist instinctively shot out first.
Where does this bastard think he's going!
Just before the parts used for eating collided, my hand excellently protected me from Baek Eun-seong's invasion. Glaring at Baek Eun-seong who had tumbled under the bed, I rubbed my stinging fist.
You little shit, no matter how much it hurts, you should still know better.
Then I vigorously wiped my untouched lips and kicked Baek Eun-seong away again as he tried to crawl his way back onto the bed.
[Agh, just sleep!]
With 'Celestial Command,' I couldn't directly control his consciousness to actually make him 'fall asleep,' but I could put him in a state 'like sleeping.' Making others fall asleep all this time had actually been based on this principle. When I urgently used the skill, Baek Eun-seong lay down on the floor and quieted.
Watching him lying there so docilely, curses boiled up in my mouth.
The fact that I had been momentarily frightened of Baek Eun-seong was so shameful I felt like I'd go crazy.
And! Ugh! Even if he wanted to suppress the curse, how dare he threaten my lips? I wanted to punch Baek Eun-seong one more time, but I frantically messed up my own hair and barely suppressed the boiling anger.
I wanted to go home and scrub my lips raw, but we had a deal, and I couldn't just suppress his curse and return home empty-handed. I needed to bring at least one material. Also, thorough aftercare service prevents any complaints later.
"Baek Ha-min!"
To leave a witness, I called Baek Ha-min. As soon as the words left my mouth, the child came clattering over, and when I told him to tie Baek Eun-seong up tightly, Baek Ha-min pulled out thick vines and hoisted his uncle up with leaves.
"Like this?"
Then he carefully moved him to the bed and wrapped his entire body tightly with the extended vines.
"Yeah, good job."
"But why do you have to do this?"
"Your uncle isn't as composed as you, so he says being sick is too scary. So he asked to be tied up."
"Hm? Uncle isn't in pain at all, why would he say that?"
Baek Ha-min tilted his head but patted Baek Eun-seong's chest with his small hand. I sat beside him, spitting out all kinds of curses internally as I pushed aside Baek Eun-seong's clothes.
Flat abs or whatever the hell that was didn't even register in my eyes. Suppressing the urge to scratch it all up, I gathered mana in my hand and firmly packed down the curse that was trying to spread everywhere, as if making a rice ball. Since I had compressed it this much, the curse wouldn't spread and torment his whole body for a while.
After finishing everything, my energy drained rapidly. Sitting against the wall with a half-dead expression, Baek Ha-min carefully climbed onto my lap.
"Uncle, are you maybe hungry?"
I hadn't particularly thought about it, but hearing the question, a sudden wave of hunger rushed in. When I nodded, the child beamed, jumped up, and ran out patter-patter.
"Uncle Jae-geun!"
And not long after, he shouted for me to come out quickly too. Unable to resist the noisy urging, I headed to the kitchen where I saw an unfamiliar person. He introduced himself as Hunter Choi Jae-geun and bowed politely. When I also gathered Do Yu-dam, who was sitting awkwardly on the sofa, and headed to the dining table, a feast of all sorts of delicacies was spread out.
"First, let me explain starting from the left…."
"Um. I'll just have rice and kimchi."
"…Yes?"
Choi Jae-geun seemed eager to introduce the food he had put his heart and soul into making, but I only accepted kimchi, rice, and water.
Considering the effort he put into preparing it, it would've been polite to take at least a bite, but as I've said before, I wanted to avoid new experiences in this world as much as possible. So instead of new food, I just shoved the familiar kimchi and rice into my mouth.
"Uncle… try eating this too."
What Baek Ha-min offered on the plate was a fish dish that looked like eel. Whether it was a dish he was confident in, Choi Jae-geun proudly puffed out his chest.
"Sorry. Uncle is too tired to digest meat."
At my words, Choi Jae-geun looked around the table with a despairing expression before pushing the vegetable stir-fry toward me. I only pretended to eat while taking care of Do Yu-dam and Baek Ha-min's meals.
"Thanks for the food."
Anyway, I thought Baek Ha-min ate really well, but Do Yu-dam was no joke either? The two emptied their bowls busily as if competing to see who could eat faster, and Choi Jae-geun smiled with satisfaction, diligently bringing new dishes so the food wouldn't run out.
Around the time I was finishing my first bowl, I heard footsteps coming down from the second floor.
"Were you eating?"
Baek Eun-seong, appearing in a soft cream-colored cardigan, approached. The way he sat at the table listlessly looked exactly like a fragile protagonist in a drama.
He looked better than before, but his face was still deeply pale. Perhaps from not eating properly, the area around his eyes was sunken.
Baek Eun-seong blankly stared down at the porridge Choi Jae-geun had prepared before bowing to me.
"Thank you for visiting even though I called you suddenly."
"Whatever. Salamander's egg, Mosland's wing—"
As I recited the materials needed to repair M's belt, he, who had been listening quietly, nodded.
"There's a red venomous scorpion's tail in the guild warehouse. I'll have to check on the other things."
"Alright."
I kept glancing at him, wondering if this guy remembered what happened earlier. But Baek Eun-seong had the same unperturbed face as always. A surge of irritation rose for a moment, but then again, if he did remember, that would also be annoying. I just kept my mouth shut and silently shoved rice and kimchi into my mouth.
When Baek Eun-seong left his seat to check the warehouse, Baek Ha-min, who had been eating the dessert Choi Jae-geun brought out while sneaking glances at me, tugged on my hand.
"Uncle, wanna look around our house?"
"Next time."
I was tired. I didn't know what effect suppressing the curse had on me, but my eyes kept closing since earlier. I planned to go straight home and sleep soundly once I received the materials, but Baek Ha-min kept clinging to me, telling me to look around the house. Do Yu-dam, who was eating his fifth rolled cake, also kept glancing at me, seemingly wanting to look around Baek Ha-min's house too.
"Fine, let's see how amazing it is."
Getting up from the table to humor Baek Ha-min, I took a step, but a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me and my legs gave out. As I plopped down on the spot, Baek Ha-min, who had excitedly run ahead, was startled and came rushing back. I stopped Do Yu-dam, who was trying to support me by pulling my arm, and wiped my face with a dry hand.
"Uncle is just a little tired."
"Then should I carry you?"
Before Baek Ha-min could even finish speaking, he created a chair out of vines and effortlessly lifted me up. Seeing this, Do Yu-dam covered his mouth with both hands and burst into a puff of laughter.
If even that usually quiet kid went that far…. I was afraid to imagine how ridiculous I must have looked right now.
Barely getting down from the vine chair, I walked as Baek Ha-min led. Then, sensing someone hesitantly following behind, I reached out my hand to Do Yu-dam.
When Do Yu-dam ran over and grabbed my hand, Baek Ha-min, who had been running ahead, came back this way and grabbed my other hand, hanging off it. Because of the height difference between the two, my posture became hunched and uncomfortable. Thinking this wouldn't do, I let go of both their hands and said to Baek Ha-min.
"Baek Ha-min, come here and let me hold you."
At my words, the child hopped into my arms and hugged my neck tightly. Then he started introducing the house, reaching his hands out here and there. Do Yu-dam stared at me for a moment before quietly joining the house tour.
Perhaps because it was such a nice house, this and that were quite fascinating, but structure or whatever aside, I was tired to the point of going crazy. Even while walking, my eyes kept fluttering shut, so I eventually put Baek Ha-min down and shooed the two kids away with a wave of my hand.
"I'll be here, so you two go look around and come back."
"Huh…? But Uncle needs to see it…."
Baek Ha-min stomped his feet anxiously before quickly grabbing Do Yu-dam's hand as he tried to sit next to me.
"Then I'll show Do Yu-dam around the house, so listen to how amazing it is. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. And Baek Ha-min, call Do Yu-dam 'hyung.'"
"We'll be back!"
Whether he didn't hear me or heard me but ignored me. Baek Ha-min, holding Do Yu-dam's hand, disappeared somewhere in an instant. I looked around and lay down on the sofa placed in the corner.
My body felt chills as if I had caught a bad cold. Was this the effect of using too much power? I didn't feel like this even when I killed a hundred magical beasts, or when I came out of a dungeon.
I muttered that I should definitely receive two materials as compensation and closed my eyes for just a moment….
"Did you sleep well?"
"…What time is it?"
"It's a little past 6."
And when I opened my eyes again, an hour had already passed.
Why on earth did no one wake me up. And since when was Baek Eun-seong standing in front of me again. I felt my face in case there were any signs of having just woken up, then reached my hand out to Baek Eun-seong, who looked much better than before.
"Why…?"
He looked down at my palm with a bewildered face before soon reaching his own hand out. I slapped the back of his hand with a smack and motioned again.
"Give me the tail."
"Ah, that's bulky, so I'll give it to you when you leave later."
"I'm leaving now."
"It's late, why don't you just sleep over?"
I was the one who hadn't fully woken up, yet he was saying nonsense, so I rejected him without a second thought. Baek Eun-seong, who looked down at me for a moment, smiled softly like a cotton candy that might melt at any second.
"No, Hunter Seong Do-hyeon. Why don't we just live together?"